GCW The Coldest Winter: Blake Christian vs. Speedball Mike Bailey, Waltman issues challenge to Janela

February 27, 2022 Jon Pine NEWS, Show Reports
Photo Courtesy: Game Changer Wrestling

GCW The Coldest Winter
Saturday, February 26, 2022, Ukrainian Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA

By: Jon Pine

Coming off their incredible show last night, Game Changer Wrestling closed out ShotCaller Weekend with another impressive show. Blake Christian vs. Mike Bailey was an instant classic and a match that everyone should go out of their way to watch.  Every single match was different, with the standouts being Deppen vs. Rosa, Mack vs. Cartwheel, and Lloyd vs. Zayne. There were a couple of challenges laid out, SGC called out H8 Club for the next GCW show in Atlanta, X-Pac challenged Joey Janela to a match at Spring Break and it was announced that Game Changer Wrestling returns to Los Angeles, Thursday,  March 24, 2022, at the Roxy Theatre. The next time GCW will be on FITE is in two weeks, March 12, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Spoiler Free Match Recommendations:

Blake Christian vs. Mike Bailey
Tony Deppen vs. Thunder Rosa
Ninja Mack vs. Jack Cartwheel
Jimmy Lloyd vs. Alex Zayne

GCW Welcome to Heartbreak Results:

The Briscoe Brothers Defeated Juicy Finau and Jacob Fatu, Blake Christian Defeated Nick Wayne, Tony Deppen Defeated Kevin Blackwood, Mike Bailey Defeated Ninja Mack, AJ Gray Retained the GCW Extreme Championship, Dr. Wagner Jr. Defeated Homicide, Second Gear Crew and Friends Defeated Team Reefer, Joey Janela and X-Pac Defeated Brian Myers and Matt Cardona

New Collective 2022 Announcements:

For The Culture:
AJ Francis, Briana Brandy, Bryan Keith, O’Shay Edwards, Shane Taylor, Tehuti Miles

Mission Pro Wrestling:
Thunder Rosa, Allysin Kay, Charlotte Renegade, Holidead, Janai Kai, Jody Threat, KiLynn King, La Rosa Negra, LuFisto, Marti Belle, Masha Slamovich, Robyn Renegade, Tasha Steelz

Glory Pro Wrestling:
Allie Katch, Bryan Keith, Dan The Dad, Davey Richards, Davey Vega, Jake Something, Janai Kai, Mat Fitchett, Mike Outlaw, Rocky Romero, Tootie Lynn, Warhorse

LA Fights vs. JCW:
Singles Match: B-Boy vs. Grim Reefer
Singles Match: Big Vin vs. Juicy Finau
Charles Mason attacked Dark Sheik after her match which will most likely lead to a match at LA Fights vs. JCW.

Joey Janela’s Spring Break: 

The Briscoe Brothers called out H8 Club for a Tag Title Rematch

AJ Gray called out Jon Moxley for the GCW Heavyweight Championship

Main Event: GCW Ultraviolent Championship Deathmatch: John Wayne Murdoch vs. Alex Colon (champion)
Singles Match: Matt Cardona vs. Chris Dickinson
Singles Match: Sean Waltman vs. Joey Janela
Mike Bailey, Biff Busick, Minoru Suzuki

Effy’s Big Gay Brunch:
Additional Names Added Today: Billy Dixon
Max the Impaler, Dark Sheik, Amy Rose, Kidd Bandit, Keita Murray, Pollo Del Mar, Brooke Valentine, Jordan Blade

Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport 8:
Additional Names Added Today: Marina Shafir
Singles Match: Chris Dickinson vs. Minoru Suzuki
Minoru Suzuki, Biff Busick, Timothy Thatcher, Jon Moxley, Janai Kai, Jonah

Gringo Loco’s The Wrld on Lucha:
Gringo Loco, Johnny Caballero (FKA John Morrison), Pagano, Laredo Kid, Drago Kid

GCW Planet Death hosted by Nick Gage:
AKIRA, Slade, HoodFoot

Next Show: GCW Astronaut, March 12, 2022, Atlanta Georgia Update:
Singles Match: Jonathan Gresham vs. Blake Christian
Singles Match: AR Fox vs. Nick Wayne
Talent Announced: Matthew Justice, Mance Warner, Tony Deppen, GCW Tag Team Champion Nick Gage, and Matt Tremont, Joey Janela, Extreme Champion AJ Gray, NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Matt Cardona, Allie Katch, Effy, Gringo Loco.

Results from The Coldest Winter, February 26, 2022, Los Angeles, CA

Commentary: Kevin Gill, Lenny Leonard

Joey Janela Promo:

After the show went off the air last night, the fans were so pissed off at Joey’s actions that they started throwing bottles and such in the ring. One man threw a full cup of beer which hit Janela in the face, subsequently, visibly pissed Janela went into the crowd and got in the unruly fan’s face.

Joey Janela: “I am Sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry, For the last 5 years, through all my ventures, I’ve carried these three letters across my chest, GCW, and whether you were a young man, or women coming up in this business or someone who was fresh off a television contract, or you someone who was in a retirement home looking for one last run, I’ve been selfish, I right now in my life, I don’t know what’s going to happen April 30th, but my paychecks that are belong delivered to my mailbox might fucking stop and its time for me to put myself first. Where are my fucking flowers, where are my fucking flowers? Guys, I don’t have any kids, I don’t have a family, but I survive guys. It’s time for me to put myself first, when are fans going to appreciate me, in five years? Do I have to be in an open casket or a fucking urn for you to appreciate me? *crowd cheers* So I have to be fucking dead for you to appreciate me? I’m out here, I want to apologize to you Sean Waltman because I idolized you, you were someone, at the lowest point of your life, you were at rock bottom, you dealt with depression, substance abuse, and everything that came along with it. But you kept on fighting, and you came here last night and you got your flowers, you got your moment at Joey Janela’s expense Just like everyone else does. It’s about Joey Janela, it’s always about who Joey Janela puts over.  And surely Sean Waltman, I believe it was your…

Waltman Appears

*The crowd chants “you fucked up” towards Janela*

Waltman: You are a piece of shit man, *crowd chants piece of shit* Hey, bro I’ve been in the back listen to you babble and ramble, blah blah blah what about me, what the fuck are you the new Raven, what the fuck man. Hey, last night I feel like I got hit by a bus man, we won the match. It was a perfect night for me, for everyone who was here last night, thank you, it meant the world to me. I chose GCW and I chose you as my partner because we have a bit of a past. Bro, you’ve been asking me for a singles match for six years, sorry it wasn’t on my bucket list but it is now. You want your flowers, you want your flowers, I’ll give you your flowers at Joey Janela’s Spring Break, I’ll give you those flowers and shove them up your fucking ass.”

Singles Match: Jack Cartwheel vs. Ninja Mack

Each man trades cartwheels, they egg on the ref to try one as well who eventually does one to the delight of the crowd. They lock up at the start with Ninja Mack getting the better of this interaction as Jack Cartwheel bails to the floor to catch his breath. The pace of the match picks up right away with each man hitting dives to the outside and top-rope maneuvers. Ninja Mack kicks Cartwheel in the face causing him to be a little worse for wear as he’s bleeding from the mouth. Cartwheel doesn’t let the bloodied mouth phase him and starts his offensive barrage on the smaller Ninja Mack.  Both of these men have Unbridled athleticism as they engage in incredible high-flying evasion and offensive moves. Jack Cartwheel goes for a twisting Shooting Star Press but no one was home and Ninja Mack caught him with a backslide.

Ninja Mack Defeated Jack Cartwheel

For the second night in a row, there is a fan at the entrance who is holding a large mallet.

Singles Match: Jordan Oliver vs. Dark Sheik

East Coast vs. West Coast battle tonight as Jordan Oliver and Dark Sheik go to battle, they start by trading a series of near falls eventually wrestling to a stalemate. This match has a much slower pace than the last one as these two have more ground-based and strike-based offenses. Sheik goes for a plancha but Oliver gets his knees up and starts running wild on Dark Sheik hitting a pump kick followed by a dropkick for a near fall. His advantage doesn’t last long as Dark Sheik recovers and brings the fight to the younger Jordan Oliver, she’s able to get a couple of near falls but she gets caught with a Shining Wizard once again swinging the advantage in Oliver’s direction.

The match progressed on with each wrestler laying in various offensive sequences, Sheik goes for a dragon suplex but it’s reversed and Oliver is able to leverage a pin for the victory.

Jordan Oliver Defeated Dark Sheik

Singles Match: Tony Deppen vs. Thunder Rosa

Coming off his fantastic match against Kevin Blackwood last night, Tony Deppen is paired up with AEW superstar, Thunder Rosa; the last time we saw Rosa in GCW was at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Deppen bullies Rosa around the ring to start the match, slapping her across the face which only fires up Rosa even more as she takes Deppen down with a double leg and ground and pounds him, locks in a cross arm breaker but Deppen is able to get to the ropes and takes a breather on the floor. Rosa continues to go after Deppen’s arm as they scramble for position on the mat, Rosa tries for a leg submission but once again Deppen is able to get to the ropes. They reset and lock up once again, Rosa slaps Deppen across the face, takes him down with a shoulder block but Deppen gets pissed, grabs her by the throat, and elbows her ear. Rosa responds with a guillotine, followed by hard strikes in each corner; Rosa hits Deppen with a Death Valley Driver on the apron. The two brawl into the crowd with Rosa lighting up Deppen with a series of strikes and chops, Rosa locks in the guillotine once again but Deppen smashes her back against the apron, breaking the hold. Back in the ring Deppen hits a series of brutal elbows to the back of Thunder Rosa’s head and attempts a pinfall, the crowd is letting Deppen know what they think of him and he responds by flipping them off. While that happened Thunder Rosa was able to recover and started attacking Deppen’s ribs and arm; they stood in the center of the ring and exchanged vicious forearm strikes bringing both of them to their knees. They continued to battle, laying in strikes and trying for submissions but Thunder Rosa was able to catch Deppen and rolled him up for the victory.

Thunder Rosa Defeated Tony Deppen

Emil J announces that Zackass is in attendance tonight.

Nick Gage comes to the ring:

Gage: “WHERE’S MY FUCKING GANG AT? It feels good to be back in LA motherfuckers, and you know what, next up is a motherfucking Deathmatch. Let’s fucking go”

Nick Gage is the ring announcer for this match and it was fantastic.

Do or Die Deathmatch: Jimmy Lloyd vs. Alex Zayne 

There are multiple panes of glass located inside the ring along with a barbed wire board. Alex Zayne comes to the ring with a box of Taco Bell, this is also his first ever professional Deathmatch. The two start off with dueling wrist locks, each trying to send the other into the panes of glass that are situated in the corners; Zayne goes for a dive to the outside but Jimmy jumps back into the ring, picks up the barbed wire door, but he gets caught with a kick and finds himself underneath the barbed wire door. Zayne hits two dives onto the barbed wire door-busting Jimmy Lloyd open, Zayne sets up a table on the floor for later. Zayne returns to the ring and continues his offensive advantage over Jimmy Lloyd, Zayne runs in to try and send Lloyd to the floor but gets back body dropped through the table, landing hard on the hardwood floor. Alex Zayne has a noticeable welt on his back from the fall he took on the floor, Lloyd sets up what’s left of the barbed wire door in the center of the ring but gets caught with a hurricanrana sending him once again into the barbs. Zayne picks up the box of Taco Bell revealing a Taco filled with thumbtacks and a cup of thumbtacks. Lloyd puts the tacks in Zayne’s mouth and kicks him in the face, there are tacks visibly stuck in Zayne’s tongue. Zayne is able to recover positioning Jimmy Lloyd underneath a pane of glass, he climbs to the top rope and hits a twisting senton through the pane of glass. 

Zayne got the worst of it as he lacerated his right arm and was picking glass out of it. Zayne gets caught with an exploder suplex sending him into the other pane of glass. Lloyd sets up another pane of glass on two chairs they go to the top rope and gets hit with a crunch wrap supreme from Zayne who lands once again through the pane of glass. Lloyd hits Zayne with the Assault Driver through the final pane of glass for the victory.

This was a sprint of a deathmatch, both men were tremendous and Zayne’s high-flying style combined with the deathmatch elements was very fun to watch.

Jimmy Lloyd Defeated Alex Zayne

8 Person Tag Team Match: Team LA Fights (Sandra Moon, Jai Vidal, Hunter Freeman, and Jordan Cruz) vs. Second Gear Crew and Bussy (Allie Katch, Effy, AJ Gray, Matthew Justice)

The match starts off with SGC and Bussy teeing off on the much younger LA Fights, SGC gets sent to the floor and taken out with a trio of dives, Jia Vidal climbs to the top rope and hits a twisting plancha to the floor taking out everyone once again. Vidal and Effy trade hard slaps in the center of the ring with Effy able to take Vidal off his feet with a big boot followed by a release suplex. AJ Gray has had enough of it and lays Vidal out with a lariat, Sandra Moon comes in the ring and tries to take the fight to AJ Gray but she gets cut off right away with hard chops which floored Moon. Katch and Cruz pick up where AJ and Moon left off trading vicious strikes to both the back and front of their heads, Cruz tries to go for a pin but it’s broken up by Matthew Justice who hits Cruz in the back with a chair. Hunter throws a door at Justice’s head, Justice smiles and takes the fight to Freeman laying in a handful of chair shots. Justice sets the door up in the corner and spears Freeman through it, Effy and Justice go for stereo pins but Vidal breaks them up. AJ Gray and Matthew Justice take Vidal out with the door, Freeman is able to kick the door out of their hands and plants Effy through the door. SGC rally back and were able to hit Freeman with a piledriver followed by leg drop/splash combo for the victory.

Second Gear Crew and Bussy Defeated LA Fights

Post Match: Mance Warner comes to the ring

Mance Warner: “I gotta preach, I love you motherfuckers baby, on the day i became a free agent, I broke two goddamn bones in my leg and that meant that I couldn’t be at the Hammerstein, the place I wanted to be since I was little watching ECdub on TNN with my grandmama. But now Old Mancer is back and I aint missing Spring Break but, hold on I’ve been drinking and I’ve been thinking, I don’t know if I want to wait. We are going to be in WCW territory in two weeks in Atlanta, Georgia. Justice you ready? H8 Club I saw ya’ll talking shit, Tremont Gage we ain’t waiting no more, we coming for the gold in Hotlanta Motherfucker”

Singles Match: Kevin Blackwood vs. Grim Reefer

Each man shows each other respect as they start off the match as they jockey for position for the first portion of the match. The action spills to the floor as Reefer hits a frog splash to the prone Blackwood. Reefer gets caught with a dropkick which sends him crashing into the chairs, he follows it up by hip tossing Reefer into the third row, incidentally taking out two fans as well. The way the chairs collapsed underneath them was pretty funny. Reefer lights up his joint and starts taking the offense to Kevin Blackwood, hitting a double jump senton, second rope Russian leg sweep for a two count. Blackwood fires back up and hits Reefer with a series of German Suplexes and a gotch piledriver for another two-count. Blackwood picks up the joint and puts it out on Reefer’s chest, Blackwood is straight edge. Reefer starts to rearrange the furniture as he brings in two chairs and a door, he sets up the door, places Blackwood on the top rope, and goes for a tornado DDT but Blackwood blocked it and hits a double stomp through the door for the victory.

Kevin Blackwood Defeated Grim Reefer

Dream Match: Mascara Dorada vs. Gringo Loco

This match was an absolute sprint between two of the greatest Luchadores working today. Loco gets sent to the floor and quickly gets taken out by a flying Dorada, they both go back into the ring and start trading impressive offense. Dorada gets sent to the floor and gets taken out by Gringo Loco who hits a tope. Gringo starts ripping at Dorada’s mask, stacks him up in the corner, hits a chop, and kicks to the back of the head for a two count. The pace has lessened as they start to go to work on each other with submission moves and strikes; Gringo eats an elbow and gets caught with a springboard hurricanrana. The King of the Ropes tries to take out Gringo Loco but he gets caught with a powerbomb; the action spills to the floor with Dorada leading the way. They make their way to the stage, Gringo gets planted on the stage with a tilt a whirl backbreaker sending him back to the floor, Dorada hits a running Hurricanrana, soaring through the air taking out Gringo Loco. Both men battled on the top rope with Gringo Loco able to hit a double jump Spanish fly, bringing the crowd to their feet for a two count. Gringo Loco hits a top rope twisting powerbomb and pins Mascara Dorada.

Gringo Loco Defeated Mascara Dorada 

Singles Match: Mike Bailey vs. Blake Christian

Both men start the match feeling each other out before the pace picks up and they are off and running. Their incredible quickness was on display as they trade counters and reached a stalemate, they started trading chops and kicks in the center of the ring as the crowd got to their feet in appreciation. Christian’s main concern is being able to dodge the educated feet of Mike Bailey, Christian was sent to the floor where Bailey starts picking apart his knee with repeated kicks and dragon screws. Back in the ring Bailey continues his onslaught on the knee of Christian; Bailey is pacing himself as he continues to kick away at Christian’s face and knee. Bailey routinely grounds Christian with a series of hard chops to the chest and back. They go for a back chop off but Bailey betrays Christian and kicks him in the back of his head, Christian fires up and grounds Bailey with a stack powerslam, followed by a lionsault for a two count. There is a ‘bloody’ handprint across Blake Christian’s chest that will definitely be there for a couple of weeks. Bailey is able to lock in a leglock, grinding away at Christian’s bad knee, Christian was on the cusp of tapping out but he was able to get to the ropes. The crowd is split, chanting for both of these men as they battle on the top rope. Bailey hits a series of Kuwada kicks to Christian’s face as they are perched on the ropes, Christian is able to somehow hit a second rope belly-to-back suplex. Bailey bails to the floor and gets caught tope, sending him flying into the crowd but he is able to dodge the second tope and hit a giant moonsault taking Christian out. Back in the center of the ring both men traded stiff forearms as they tried to find a way to put one another away. Christian hits Bailey with two consecutive half and half suplexes on the ring apron but due to his damaged knees he was unable to get the pin in time, both men are hobbled as they tee off on each other’s knees. The pace has slowed down but the violence has been increasing with each kick they deliver. Christian hits a Fosbury flop onto Bailey and then hits a tombstone on the floor, Christian rolls Bailey back into the ring and climbs to the top rope; he misses, gets hit with a spinning head kick and a double knees but Christian is able to kick out. Christian hits his package suplex for the victory. A truly Fantastic match. This contest never had the opportunity to overstay its welcome and saw action from start to finish. 

About Jon Pine 174 Articles
Living in Providence, Rhode Island; when Jon isn’t watching AEW or GCW with his dogs Dakota and Aurora, he’s probably watching the CSPAN feed of the Senate floor or listening to Bennington on SiriusXM.